Community Brag Posts

With all our changes and renovations, we no longer had a place to put up Christmas stockings. When I saw the idea for a fake mantle I knew this would be a good solution. The wall area I had was only 30 inches wide, but we made it work! The mantle itself was made almost entirely out of wood scraps. We also painted a thin piece of wood with chalkboard paint and used metallic Sharpies to create the grate and logs. That attached to the back of the mantle to serve as the "inside" of the fireplace. The kids added their own version of flames with some colored chalk on Christmas Eve night. Best part is I can store it in the attic until next year!

I was so inspired by Ana's plans I made two tables, that can be put side by side, alongside each other or used as two separate tables with benches. I also made a bar with granite top...... It was lots of sanding as I did not have a planer at the time, but I love the finished project and get compliments by all that see it. Thank you Ana White.

Cathy B

My husband and I built this kitchen for my son's 2nd birthday and it continues to be a huge hit. We scaled the dimensions up a bit so he can use it longer, and used 3/4" birch plywood with veneer on the ends. The oven knobs spin on dowels, the stove burners are just painted on and we added moulding to the edge of the countertops to give it a nice rounded edge. We used a cheap bar faucet from ebay, hardware from IKEA, and a stainless steel bowl with a rim for the sink. I highly recommend using a flap stay on the stove door to keep it from slamming open, and magnetic catches on the oven and fridge doors. We also used anti-tip furniture straps because these suckers are heavy.

I spent time over my winter break from work to build this for my nine year-old. She absolutely loves it. It is much sturdier than the basic wooden loft I had in college. Now my 6YO wants one! I bought a Kreg Jig, which was a great investment to build something like this. I used a circular saw but next time around would borrow or purchase a miter/table saw for the large number of cuts required. I spent $475 in lumber, screws, nails, paint, etc which was more than I had planned, but we are happy with the result! It took me about 40 hours to build this in my basement. Great project for daddy/daughter time while school was out; she made the majority of the measurements for me! There were very slight issues with the plans but overall it was not too difficult.

I decided since I was doing a lot of wood working projects I needed to have a work table. I came across the patio table on Ana site and fell in love. I now have a great table in my garage for all my woodworking projects.

I modified the tapered planter plans to create a decorative open-bottom well cover. I used cedar picket planks and a 2x4 and 2x2 frame.

Untreated 4x4s are so hard to find around me so I used 2x4s for the legs. To get the legs truly square, I used my table saw to rip about a 1/4" off from each side of 2x4s (making the legs 3" by 3"). This also helped the legs appear to be one solid piece. After sanding with palm sander I applied Dark Walnut Minwax Stain. After the first coat set, I applied more stain to random places on the table to give it a somewhat "worn" look I guess. I finished with two generous coats of Minwax Semi-gloss poly. I like the way it came out. I also built the tryde coffee table, and after doing so I realized that the 2x6 breadboards had a slight angle to them. To fix this on the console table I attached the breadboards more inward toward the center of the table. The level look is just more appealing to me, but it's no biggie. Now I'm working on finish two tryde end tables, and soon I'll be starting a tv stand. Love the plans and the site in general! Thanks!

Using the original plans, I modified them to fit a full size mattress.

custom handcrafted amish style entry bench

I built this desk for my 15 year old daughter. We needed to size it so that a neat yard sale find seat could fit under it. I also added supports for the legs at the bottom. It just didn't feel sturdy enough for me. Large, single drawer was painted on the inside to match the color of her walls, pulling the whole look together! Lots of fun to build!

I hated my old flimsy coffee table and I decided that I needed another one. After searching online for tables that I could build, my wife and I came across this one. Its large, sturdy and has the underneath shelf for additional storage. Plus the styling was cool too.

Absolutely loved making this bed! It became my summer project and I needed it done in a two week time frame. Between working on it after i got off work and on my days off, it came out exactly how I wanted it to.

I only ended up spending a total of $140 dollars by using scrap wood around my garage and new nails and screws and such. This was the absolute way to go before moving into my first apartment with little to no furniture! The storage boxes were the perfect solution to not wanting to buy a dresser. It's completely durable and I'd definitely do it again! Thanks Ana White!

Address signs!

These came together nicely but I definitely advocate the right tool for cutting the curves on the sides. Also, the next time we make them, and we most likely will, I will make the roomy version. The wider size will give us a little more room for a few extra books. All in all the girls are very please with them. I like that they are just above their bed to make night time reading easy and fun. Couldn't have done it without you Ana. Thanks.

We needed something to put clothes in. A dresser wouldn't of been big enough, so I decided on the armoire. I shortened the height so I'd only had to buy 2 1x12's. Everything else is the same. The 1x12's were so warped I had a heck of time with the doors.
I'm not digging the distressing. I tried the Vaseline thing. Never again it was a mess. I'll just stick to sanding it down from now on.

This was my second project from Ana White's plans. I felt confident in my new woodworking skills once I learned how to use the kreg jig for pocket holes. The child's table and chair I made came out so good, I decided why not try a toddler bed for my 4 yr old granddaughter. She loves her new bed. And I love how easy and fun it was to make.

I only had to make minor adjustments to the size to accomodate her mattress. I brought the footboard out to the edge of the legs because I needed to add an inch to the length, but the sides are set in like the plans. I also added a couple inches to the rail height since her mattress is 6 inches deep and I wanted it to be above the mattress.

I was afraid I couldn't get the rounded headboard neat, so I used the whole 6 inch board, adding to the height of the headboard a few inches. I also added the top board on the headboard because it just made it look cleaner on top. You might not be able to tell from the photo, but I did use the beadboard - I had a scrap the perfect size.